ARCHIVED - European court rules that Spain has failed to protect Doñana wetlands in Andalusia

Protected habitats within the national park in Huelva, Andalusia, are deteriorating as a result of dry conditions caused by low aquifer levels.  

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Spain hasn’t done enough to protect the wetlands of Donaña National Park in Huelva and prevent the deterioration of its protected habitats in response to an appeal submitted by the EC in 2019. 

Brussels opened proceedings against Spain in 2014 after receiving several complaints regarding the state of the protected habitats in the national park in Andalusia and took the matter to the European courts five years later after finding that the Spanish authorities had failed to act to correct the problems highlighted. 

The court in Luxembourg has declared non-compliance under the Water and Habitats directives and EU nature legislation and ruled that Spain ought to have taken illegal water extractions and those intended for urban supply into account when estimating demands on the aquifer in the Doñana area in order to draw up the 2015-2021 Guadalquivir Hydrological Plan. Moreover, the ruling notes, Spain has failed to take appropriate measures to prevent alterations to the protected habitats within the park caused by extractions. 

Doñana is fed by the Guadalquivir estuary and other surface water bodies and by a large aquifer, but large amounts of water are now being diverted for agriculture, urban and tourist use, causing the water table to sink and water-dependent habitats to deteriorate.

The wetlands in Doñana are among the largest in Europe and home to a wide range of fauna and flora, including critically endangered species such as the Imperial eagle, Iberian lynx and Spur-thighed tortoise. Millions of birds also pass through the area every year due to its strategic location on migration routes.